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Jep!
Jep! was a short-lived children's version of Jeopardy!, the show aired from 1998-2000 lasting for 2 seasons. Gameplay Three child contestants competed. For the first two rounds they were seated in futuristic chairs (explanation later). As on the adult version of the show, the kid contestants had to buzz-in and respond in the form of a question. Unlike in the adult version, however, the host always warned the contestants at the beginning of every show that responses must be in the form of a question or they cannot be accepted even if the response itself would've been correct and regardless of the round; therefore, the phrasing rule was the most strict on this version. On the adult version as well as Rock & Roll Jeopardy! and Sports Jeopardy!, the host would usually remind players to watch their phrasing in the first round, but there would be no reminders in the second; however, players are allowed to correct themselves before time runs out. Differences from the regular show *'Smaller Podiums' – While the contestant lecterns featured a similar appearance to that of the then-current "sushi bar" set on the adult version, they were smaller in size. As stated above, the players were seated. *'Colored Podiums' – Each contestant's lectern had a different color, similar to that of Wheel of Fortune and its child counterpart Wheel 2000. However, the blue and red lecterns were switched; therefore, the blue was on the left, and the red on the right. *'Scoring' – Contestants played for points instead of dollars. However, as in the adult version, correct responses added points, while incorrect responses deducted points (and in the first two rounds earned an "In Jeopardy!" light, as explained below). *'Game Board' – The game board held five categories with four clues each (scaled down from the traditional six categories with five clues on the adult version). Rather than the player calling out an amount for the clue, a randomizer was used to select point value. The font for the clues is the same one used on the adult version. The four clues are signified by four red lights above the category monitor. Each time a clue is used up, one light goes out; with all four red lights out meaning the category has been used up. *'Signaling Buttons' – Large red buttons mounted on the lecterns were used instead of the famous handheld thumb-depressed signaling devices used the adult version of the show. They were used both to stop the randomizer in the selection of clue point amounts and when buzzing in to respond to a clue. Each contestant had two buzzers. *'Buzzer Sounds' – When a player buzzed in, a "boing" sound was played. The adult version of the show had a buzzer sound during all of the Fleming era and some of the first season of the Trebek era ("ding"); the signaling sound was eliminated midway into the first season of the Trebek era. *'The "In Jeopardy!" lights' – On the adult version of the show, a horizontal panel of nine lights on the player's lectern above the player's score was used to indicate how much time a player who had rung in had left to respond. In Jep!, there were only three lectern lights which were designated "In Jeopardy!" lights; the lights themselves were much bigger than those of the adult show. When a player gave an incorrect response during the first two rounds, not only did the player have points deducted, but one of the three lights lit up in red. Getting one red light meant that a "vat" above the player's head would "cook" up something, usually styrofoam peanuts or packaging items. Two lights meant the "vat" would open up, spilling its contents on the player's head. Three lights meant that the player still seated in his/her chair would return back into the wall behind the lectern from when he/she came at the beginning of the show, and the player would not able to respond to the next clue. After one clue, the player and his/her chair returned, and the player's "In Jeopardy!" lights reset. In case the player controlling the board got sent behind the wall, the player of the remaining two with the lowest score chose a clue. Player 1 Arriving.JPG|Here comes Player 1 from behind the wall & ready for action! Player 2 Arriving.JPG|Here comes Player 2 from behind the wall & ready for action! Player 3 Arriving.JPG|Here comes Player 3 from behind the wall & ready for action! Jepcontestantarea1.jpg|The JEP Contestant Area The JEP! Board Jepboard.jpg|The JEP! Board Unlike the regular Jeopardy board, this one has 11 monitors with 20 lights, scaled down from 36 (30 in the first seven years.) Jepboard100.jpg|Comedy for 100 points Jepboard400.jpg|Urban Critters for 400 Jepboard500.jpg|Comedy for 500! Jepboard1000.jpg|Mixed-Up Proverbs for the big one, 1000! The In Jeopardy! Lights Injep1.jpg|Uh, Oh! One light lit up, that means you are now in Jeopardy! Injep2a.jpg|Uh, Oh! Two lights lit up, and you know what that means... Injep2b.jpg|...stuff gets dumped on your head! Injep2c.jpg|Here's a red contestant getting dumped on. Injep2d.jpg|And here's a blue contestant getting dumped on. Injep3a.jpg|OH NO! Three lights, so therefore... Injep3b.jpg|...you have to leave the game but just for one clue. The Jep! Round Point values ranged from 100 to 500 points. The Hyper Jep! Round Similar to Double Jeopardy! on the adult version of the program. Point values were doubled, meaning that they ranged from 200 to 1,000. Daily Doubles The Daily Double clues worked the same way as on the adult version of the program. The contestant who selected a Daily Double wagered any or all of his or her current score (up to the maximum value of the clue in that round if he or she had anything less than that). A correct response added the wager to the player's score, but an incorrect response deducted the wager from the player's score (and also received an "In Jeopardy" light). Jepdailydouble.jpg|There's nothing special about the Daily Double graphic, it's just the one used during the second year of the Sushi Bar set. Video Daily Double -2.png|This version of the Video Daily Double used on Jeopardy! and on Jep! Jepdailydoubleclue.jpg|Contestant Kyle, listening to a Daily Double clue. Do you know the correct response? (For those curious, it was "What is the Mediterranean Sea?") Special clues In addition to the Daily Doubles, there were two special clues in each of the first two rounds. They were: *The Jep! Squad: A kid from anywhere in America read the clue via prerecorded video. This was a forerunner to the regular version's Clue Crew and the trademark Daily Double "laser" sound occurred when this screen was shown. *''Jep!'' Prize: In addition to the points, the player who answered correctly also won a merchandise prize (originally handed to the player by host Bergen, later delivered down from the rafters). The prizes were either a Game.Com, Light Out Cube or a Light Wars game (all were released by Tiger Electronics). The prize was the player's to keep, regardless of the game's outcome, and again, the trademark Daily Double "laser" sound occurred when this screen was shown. Jepsquad.jpg|Before the Clue Crew, there was the JEP! Squad. Jepsquadmember.jpg|Here's Sarah Kiser of Knoxville, Tennessee giving a clue. Jepprize.jpg|Nuclear Physics for 500 plus a JEP! Prize. Jepprizedelivery.jpg|This prize is being delivered from up above. The Super Jep! Round The Super Jep! Round was played the same as the adult version's Final Jeopardy! except that even though they could finish with zero or a negative score, no player could be eliminated prior to the round—all three players played this round. If any player ended the Hyper Jep! Round with zero or a negative score, that player's score was increased to 500 points, and the other players' scores were increased by the same amount just to make things fair. For example, if one contestant had 0, the other two contestants' scores were increased by 500. The Super Jep! category was revealed in the center monitor; during the break the contestants made wagers. When the break was over, the Super Jep! clue was revealed and the players had 30 seconds while Think! plays to write down their responses which have to be phrased in the question form. When the time was up, the responses were checked one at a time starting with the third-place player's, and ending with the first-place player. The player with the most points won the game. Superjep1.jpg|It's time for Super Jep! aka Final Jeopardy! Superjep2.jpg|If you don't know the response to this clue, where have you been all this time? Superjep3.jpg|Super Jep! thinking time in progress. (Like the adult version, the category is seen in the first few seconds for the home audience.) Superjep4.jpg|Darya got the correct response. Jepcontestantarea2.jpg|But her wager wasn't enough to win the game. The Prize Choices At the end of the game, all three contestants got a choice of two prizes. The third-place winner went first and chose one of two third place prizes. The second-place winner was next, and got a choice of two second place prizes. The day's grand prize winner chose last; that player got a choice of two grand prizes. Jepgrandprize1.jpg|Which prize would you choose, this mountain bike... Jepgrandprize2.jpg|...or a ride to school in one of Rosa's International Limousines for one whole week? Gallery Kids jep.gif jep_animain2.gif Jep.gif 10153172_10152767188312119_2276020136328847941_n.jpg Rating Music Steve Kaplan Inventor Based on Jeopardy! by Merv Griffin Notes *The Jep! theme music differed from the current Jeopardy! theme by the addition of alto sax and electric guitars. *Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek was credited as the show's consultant, but not the host. He also gave some of the clues via the middle monitor on three shows (One About The Emmys, One About Wheel of Fortune & One to Spell Jeopardy.). *On one show to celebrate the special "TV Tuned in to Kids & Family Week", all three rounds had a category devoted to cable television. *With the exception of executive producer Scott Sternberg, whose company packaged Jep!, and host Bergen, most of the staff who worked on Jep! also worked on Jeopardy! *The show was taped at Stage 11 of Sony Pictures Studios, the same studio where Wheel of Fortune tapes. Rock & Roll Jeopardy! was also taped at Stage 11. *Jep! was originally going to appear on CBS as part of the 1998-99 US Saturday morning TV schedule replacing The Weird Al Show, but it was bumped and replaced with Birdz, becuase Jep! was only on GSN. *This show inspired the "Kids Week" on the current version. Gameplay *'Contestant announcer' – Host Bob Bergen introduced the contestants as well as prize plugs, but when came time to introduce him, one of the contestants (usually the one at the blue lectern) did the honor. *'JepTV.com' – On a few shows, there was a category called JepTV.com named after the show's website. There was a survey on that site and some of the questions were about that survey; most of the others were about the Internet itself. *'Triple Dump' – On three shows in which all three contestants gave one incorrect response or no incorrect responses each after the first two rounds, everybody got dumped anyway. *'Light pen/Videowriter' – The contestants on the show not only wrote down their Super Jep! responses using the lectern-mounted light pen systems, but they also wrote down their responses for certain clues during the main game, saying "What is..." aloud and completing the response in writing. Additional Page Jep!/Catchphrases Spin-Offs Jeopardy! Super Jeopardy! Rock & Roll Jeopardy! Sports Jeopardy! Links *Official Website (via Internet Archive) *Sounds from Jep! *Jep! Promo Picture @ Bob Bergen's Website *Josh Rebich's Jep! Rule Sheet *Game Show Garbage induction of Jep! Category:General Knowledge Quiz Category:Gambling Category:Childrens Category:Game Show Network shows Category:GSN Originals Category:Scott Sternberg Productions Category:Sony Pictures Television Category:Spinoffs Category:Short-Running Category:Flops Category:30 Minute Game Shows Category:1998 premieres Category:2000 endings